A developer in Azerbaijan has unveiled plans to build the world’s tallest building [CLICK FOR PICTURES], eclipsing Dubai’s 828m-tall Burj Khalifa by a full 27%.

Property company Avesta said its 185-storey 1,050m superscraper, tentatively named the Azerbaijan Tower, would form part of a chain of 41 artificial islands in the Caspian Sea, with construction scheduled to start in late 2013.

The tower would also surpass the Prince Alwaleed-backed Kingdom Tower, the 1,000m+ building set to begin construction in Jeddah in the first quarter of this year – though the final height of the Saudi tower has not yet been publicised.

Avesta’s marketing director told Associated Press the tower had initially been designed at 560m, but had nearly doubled under the latest version of the development.

The superscraper will house a business centre at the heart of the Khazar Islands project, to be located 15 miles south of the Azerbaijan capital Baku, Kana Guluzade told the newswire.

Dubai’s Burj Khalifa, named the world’s tallest tower following its launch in 2010, has seen a number of developers announce plans to eclipse its 828m height.

The most recent, the $1.2bn Kingdom Tower, is being designed by Chicago-based design firm Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture. Smith was also the architect behind the Burj Khalifa.

Kingdom Tower is set to be constructed in three phases over five years. It will be located in the first phase of Kingdom City, a $20bn mixed-use development north of Jeddah, which overlooks the Red Sea and Obhur Creek.

On completion, the tower will include a Four Seasons hotel, apartments, offices, three lobbies on the upper floors and the world’s highest observation deck on the 157th level.

According to one online report, an official application for the Azeri project had yet to be made to the State Committee for Construction and Architecture.

The committee’s deputy chairman Dovlatkhan Dovlatkhanov, told financial newswire Fineko, "As far as we know, the investor has already hired an architect, who has designed the initial sketch of the project which encompasses an offshore area in addition to the coastal zone and envisages the construction of artificial islands."

"The construction of a 185-floor building in the Baku settlement of Sahil is technically feasible. More detailed information will be provided after the fully developed project has been reviewed by specialists of the State Committee and the Ministry for Emergency Situations's evaluation committee," Dovletkhanov said.